


just go with it

by 23suh



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, i wrote this in like 30 minutes after that tarot vlive ohhh my god na jaemin, mild renmin, professor doyoung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27618524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/23suh/pseuds/23suh
Summary: “Korean pop music was created by a man of humble beginnings,” declared Jaemin.His group mates were seated all the way in the back row of the hall, silently groaning. They had an entire month to prepare for this presentation, but what had Jaemin and his friends decided to do? Not the presentation.“And his name was, and still is, Park Sooyoung. However, many would be more familiar with his stage name; JYP,” Jaemin affirmed, a large smile plastered across his face, hands clasped in both nervousness and pseudo-confidence. He had to try something to get them out of this, even if it meant a bare minimum pass.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 111





	just go with it

**Author's Note:**

> this kinda sucks but lmao park sooyoung

“Korean pop music was created by a man of humble beginnings,” declared Jaemin.

  
  


His group mates were seated all the way in the back row of the hall, silently groaning. They had an entire month to prepare for this presentation, but what had Jaemin and his friends decided to do? Not the presentation.

His group comprised of his best gaming buddy Jeno, his boyfriend Renjun, and his Demon Roommate, Donghyuck. They were _usually_ pretty good on assignments, but their hive mind decided that _nah, they’ve got this_ , and proceeded to gather from groggy mornings till late into the night, hands permanently covered in chip dust, to play video games together. It took them about a couple hundred hours combined into Animal Crossing to realise that they in fact, did not have this.

Their presentation was supposed to be on veterans, legends, and icons in the music industry, and with the way Renjun and Donghyuck waxed poetic about K-pop, Jaemin took what he remembered, balled it up into as many slides as he could, and ran with it. 

“And his name was, and still is, Park Sooyoung. However, many would be more familiar with his stage name; JYP,” Jaemin affirmed, a large smile plastered across his face, hands clasped in both nervousness and pseudo-confidence. He had to try _something_ to get them out of this, even if it meant a bare minimum pass. 

Snickers and snorts were heard from somewhere in the hall — probably from Haknyeon or Yeri, who loved K-pop and were die-hard fans of EXO; but if you asked Jaemin who EXO was, he’d probably respond with, “EXO? Like, an exoskeleton? On bugs?”.

  
  
  


“Park Sooyoung created the Korean pop music industry after a few long weeks of self-reflection on both himself, and the music industry. Why was there pop music, but no pop music in the Korean language? Well, that’s where JYP comes in,” Jaemin continued, switching slides. A photo of a random Korean man popped up on screen, with a photo of a large building behind him. 

“With the money he got from illegally selling DVDs - which I’ll get back to eventually - he bought and opened up a building which he then named SM Entertainment. What does SM stand for, you ask?” 

Jaemin switched slides.

“Singing Man Entertainment. Park Sooyoung had a vision in mind; he wanted to create a wave of Korean pop music, and he started with himself - independently releasing his first self-produced, self-written, and self-manufactured album. His friends and family said he’d never be able to do it, but he worked hard to earn the money to prove them so, so wrong. Oh, and self-manufactured, you may ask? Yes, self-manufactured, Mr. Kim! He printed everything out and burned all the CDs himself alone in that building, only the building, a desk, a computer, a printer, and a flimsy little chair to his name. See where the illegal DVD thing comes in handy?” Jaemin smiled, gesturing to the crudely edited photo of the Korean man with CDs in his hands, small stock images of clouds in the sky. 

  
  


“Do you really think Mr. Kim’s buying this?” Donghyuck whispered to Renjun, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Mr. Kim was their professor, who knew almost everything about the ins and outs of the music and entertainment industry. He had spent years managing multiple artists, even releasing a little bit of music on his own in his younger days. 

“I don’t know, but Jaemin seems convincing as hell, so far. If Mr. Kim knows literally anything about this then we’re pretty much fucked, but if he doesn’t, then it’s all up to the Big Sky Man, at this point,” groaned Renjun in return. They looked over to Jeno, who was playing a game on his phone. Ignorance is bliss, afterall. 

“You better give him one hell of a bang if he manages to pull this off, Renjun,” whispered Donghyuck. 

“Dude, what the hell?” Renjun exclaimed as softly as he could.

“Do you see him down there? He’s literally acting like a fool because none of us did anything about the presentation. He put those slides together in, like, five entire minutes,” Donghyuck replied, gesturing towards a sweaty, bouncy Jaemin. 

“He’s right, Renjun. He deserves it,” mumbled Jeno, half focusing on his game.

Renjun sighed, rolled his eyes, and sank into his seat.

“If he manages to pull this off, he’ll get the best damn lay of his life,” huffed Renjun.

  
  


On the other side of the room, Jaemin was still maintaining a slightly composed manner, zero filter from his brain to his mouth. Whatever he thought of on the spot, he didn’t have a choice but to blurt it out to fill in the allotted time needed for the presentation.

“Which brings me to,” Jaemin clicked over to the next slide, a low-res photo of girl group Girls Generation lighting up the screen. 

“One of Korea’s most beloved girl groups under SM Entertainment, the Wonder Girls!”

Renjun and Donghyuck groaned, accepting their fate. Meanwhile, Jeno unlocked a new character, silently freaking out in his seat. 

“They’ve got a mountain of achievements among them. One of the members, Jessica, even released a solo album! The first to do so, she travels to events all over the world, promoting both her group and her solo music. Others have released solo albums and tracks too, and all of them have reached an astounding amount of success both together, and as solo artists. Even after a decade, all nine of them - yes, nine, which is a pretty cool, albeit large number of members for a group - are still as close as ever, and are universally loved by all their fans. They aren’t called the Wonder Girls for nothing. Isn’t that amazing? Only SM Entertainment, Mr. Kim. Only SM!” 

Renjun was genuinely about to cry. He remembered telling Jaemin about Girls Generation and how Jessica had left, all while Jaemin was half-asleep; but Renjun had just finished watching a compilation of their best moments, and _had_ to tell Jaemin about it. Renjun was now trying to figure out if he regretted that or not.

“To conclude, Mr. Park Sooyoung has pushed far beyond the limits of what people said he’d amount to, and has broken glass ceilings to achieve what he has achieved. With multiple groups under him and even more to come, he has truly solidified himself as one of the biggest names in the Korean music industry. Actually, in fact, I personally think he’s solidified himself as one of the biggest names in the music industry in general! From someone who used to illegally sell CDs and DVDs to someone who produced those CDs and DVDs himself, to someone who has created generations worth of beloved music and idols, I think he’s done a fantastic job. Don’t you, Mr. Kim?” 

It’s almost over, Jaemin thought. Just say your goodbyes, pray, and it’s done.

“Well, that brings me to the end of the presentation. Thank you all so much for paying attention, and I hope this inspires you to perhaps take a dive into some new music!” The audience responded with polite claps, and more snickers. That one _definitely_ came from Yeri.

Jaemin was about to collapse right in front of the entire hall. His heart was beating in his chest, he’s pretty sure his asscrack was sweating, and every single thing he spat out in the past ten minutes was completely a blur to him. Renjun, Donghyuck, and Jeno silently accepted a premature defeat, while Jaemin anticipated the absolute earful he was about to receive from his professor. 

Mr. Kim blinked. Once, twice, three times. 

  
  


“Honestly, Jaemin. I have no idea about Korean pop music besides that one song, what was it, Ring Dong? Ding Dong? Something like that,” waved Mr. Kim, recalling a catchy tune from a distant memory. Something one of his artists had probably shown him in passing. Jaemin inhaled what felt like all the air in the room. His group mates closed their eyes and hoped for the best.

“I’ll have to go home and read up on this a little bit more, because this Park Sooyoung man is a very intriguing figure. But overall, really good job, Jaemin. It seems well-researched, and even though I’m not familiar with it, you seem to really, really know your stuff. Passionate about it, too. You’ve worked hard with your group mates, but maybe work a little harder on your slides, next time? A little less Microsoft Paint and a little more Adobe Photoshop?”

Jaemin, Renjun, Donghyuck, and Jeno collectively let out the biggest exhale they’d released that year. 

“Anything else, Sir?” asked Jaemin. 

“Nope, all good. Well done. Take a seat, please,” nodded Mr. Kim, an unsuspecting smile on his face. 

Jaemin smiled once more, and trudged back to his seat where his friends were staring at him, mouths wide and gaping. 

“No way, dude. No fucking way,” Donghyuck croaked. “You did not just pull all of that out of your ass. More than half of it was complete bullshit, you know that? The _Wonder Girls_?”

“Oh my god, Jaemin,” stared Renjun. Jaemin was a convincing man, but holy shit. 

Jeno paused his game and stared up at Jaemin before Jaemin took his seat, presenting his fist for a fist bump. “Nice one, man,” he smiled. 

Jaemin plonked down onto his seat and smiled, his eyes violently twitching. 

  
“I will never, _ever_ do this again for any of you. No more Animal Crossing for the rest of the semester.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you wanna see a visual representation of the slides, my friend lua made these incredible slides right here: [JAEMIN'S SLIDES](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sghvMy4XoCxYPbXNKi1QaLIoJlNSGgvpSDLAYcoVJHY/edit?usp=sharing)
> 
> [ twitter (only follow if you're 18+, and make sure to read the carrd beforehand!)](https://twitter.com/huangsuhs)
> 
> thank u to lua, sia, and bestest girl chloe for helping me beta and read through this!!!


End file.
